The present invention relates generally to hand-held manual spice grinders, and more specifically to an especially compact, lightweight, and portable miniature nutmeg grinder which is very simple to construct and efficient to use.
A hand-held manual spice grinder is commonly used for grinding and storing solid spices, e.g. nutmeg and peppercorns. Such a grinder is actuated by an input from a user, commonly a rotational motion such as the turning of a grinder shaft.
A seed of nutmeg is physically different from comparable solid masses of other spices, such as peppercorns. A seed of nutmeg is relatively large, and its outer surface has a bark which is desirable for shredding and then sprinkling onto food and into drinks. The bark may be grated manually, e.g., upon a grating board similar to one for shredding cheese. In contrast, smaller peppercorns are often pulverized, in their entireties, by crushing them between solid surfaces, such as in a mortar by a pestle.
Manual spice grinders configured specifically for shredding whole nutmeg seeds are known in the art. The blades and other shredding surfaces of such nutmeg grinders are generally configured differently than the pulverizing means of spice grinders for other types of spices. U.S. Pat. No. 473,051 to Abbot discloses a hand-held rotary nutmeg xe2x80x9cgraterxe2x80x9d having a grating chamber confined between a top disc and a bottom grating surface. The top disc engages a whole nutmeg seed in a manner whereby the turning of a shaft connected to the top disc rotates the whole nutmeg seed upon the bottom grating surface in order to shred the nutmeg. A coiled spring is provided to compress the seed between the top disc and the bottom grating surface. U.S. Pat. No. 853,725 to Newton discloses a hand-held nutmeg xe2x80x9cgraterxe2x80x9d which has a cylindrical adapter/extender with an external grating surface and an oppositely disposed adapter/extender opening. When a user rubs a whole seed of nutmeg against the external grating surface of the adapter/extender, shredded nutmeg collects in the adapter/extender and is dispensed through the adapter/extender opening. U.S. Pat. No. 944,241 to Jordan discloses a hand-held rotary nutmeg xe2x80x9cgraterxe2x80x9d similar to the Abbott device. A whole nutmeg seed is shredded between parallel upper and lower grating discs, after which nutmeg shreds are dispensed through outlets positioned along the sides of the grater. A coiled spring applies a downward force on the upper disc, thus pressing the seed against the shredding blades.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a manual nutmeg grinder which is more compact and easily portable; constructed of fewer parts; simpler to use; less likely to cause injury to a user; and more efficient, i.e., requiring less effort by the user to shred the nutmeg, than devices heretofore known in the art.
The present invention is an improved nutmeg grinder which is extremely compact, consuming little space. The improved grinder is lightweight and very portable. It includes only four components, all of which are durable, economically manufactured from plastics, and may be assembled easily. It is simple to use and grates a whole seed of nutmeg efficiently. Moreover, it advantageously functions without a spring or any other similar mechanical device. As a particularly desirable feature of the present lightweight grinder, it may be easily mounted to a key ring or a chain, e.g., a necklace, and then carried around as a novelty item.
The present grinder has a specially configured integral pestle-like seed-fracturing structure positioned internally, proximate a plurality of parallel internal linear grating blades in close proximity to each other along the sidewall of an internal grinding chamber. A rotating disc selectively opens and closes apertures in communication with the grinding chamber for preventing shredded nutmeg from escaping or leaking out. The components of the grinder are safe to use and advantageously lack sharp metallic blades.
In contrast to prior art xe2x80x9cgratersxe2x80x9d which grind nutmeg as whole seeds, the present grinder instead provides two separate and distinct xe2x80x9cactionsxe2x80x9d for grinding a whole nutmeg seed. First, the nutmeg seed is broken upon the internal seed-fracturing structure. Second, the broken pieces of nutmeg are shredded upon the linear grating blades by turning the cover of the grinder with respect to the base. A displaceable mortar-like cover including crushing ribs may be gradually lowered by a user as the spice in the grinding chamber becomes depleted, urging additional nutmeg pieces into the grinding chamber.